IN Plum Spring 2026 | Page 35

Traveling Snails Span the Globe

Fourth-grade students at O’ Block Elementary School showed that even a little snail can go on a big adventure. The traveling snail project broadens the students’ outlook while exploring academic areas. Ms. Mankovich explains,“ The goal is to help students connect to the world and to each other in a fun, meaningful way while also reinforcing geography, writing, and social studies skills.” Through the creativity and resourcefulness of students, the snails visited New York, Tennessee, and Costa Rica, while others decorated Christmas trees or even went trick-or-treating.

But one snail had a truly unforgettable journey: Coco the snail spent time in China with snowboarding legend Shaun White! White, a 5-time Olympian and 3-time Olympic gold medalist, was delighted to meet Coco. They were together at a Snow League event in Zhangjiakou, watching skiing and snowboard halfpipe competitions and exploring the world of White’ s brand WhiteSpace and the Snow League he created. What an incredible adventure for Coco and all of the traveling snails!

Make-A-Wish Telethon Tops One Million Dollars Raised to Help Children

Each year the entire Plum Borough School District community comes together to give back to children who have faced hardship. The District’ s annual Make-A-Wish Telethon just completed its 25th year with recordbreaking fundraising. Bringing enthusiasm and creativity, each school hosts their own Make-A-Wish fundraisers throughout the fall. They report on these efforts in a video recap that is aired during various segments of the telethon. The district’ s efforts are spearheaded by Mr. Berrott, Plum Senior High School Television Production teacher and production is undertaken by his Television Production I / II / III classes and the school’ s chapter of the National Honor Society.
This year’ s 13-hour telethon featured guest appearances by Mike Clark, Dan Kingerski, Rich Walsh, Jenna Harner, Mike Defabo, Pat Muldowney, Ed Albert, Kyle Dawson, Greg Brown, Paul Zeise, Chris Mueller, and many more.
All these efforts translated into significant fundraising that has profound impacts on children and teens whose lives have been affected by illness. The grand total for this year’ s telethon was $ 57,354.19, bringing the 25-year total over one million dollars, at $ 1,251,079.79. Mr. Berrott shared,“ The entire district did an outstanding job along with the community to continue to exceed all expectations for raising money for Make-A-Wish. I would like to personally thank everyone for their continued support for the last twenty-five years.”

Plum Borough School District PLUM BOROUGH SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS

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